Tolowa Dee-ni’ Nation Awarded Funding for Two Grant Proposals

Tolowa Dee-ni’ Nation Awarded Funding for Two Grant Proposals

On May 23rd the Tolowa Dee-ni′ Nation submitted two grant proposals to the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) Fiscal Year 2016 Tribal Climate Resilience Program. The Tolowa Dee-ni′ Nation was informed by the BIA that both of the submitted proposals were awarded funding.

The first proposed project, Baseline and Vulnerability Assessment of Da′-me′ (Smith River Estuary) for Climate Adaptation Planning, will assist the Tolowa Dee-ni′ Nation’s efforts to assess several resilience stressors and conduct a vulnerability assessment for the Smith River Estuary. This project will greatly inform the Nation’s understanding of the potential impacts from climate change and advance the Nation’s climate adaptation, as well as ocean and coastal management knowledge, in order to protect culturally important marine resources.

The second proposed project, Tolowa Dee-ni′ Nation Marine Water Quality Monitoring for Ocean and Coastal Management Planning, seeks to conduct baseline ocean water chemistry monitoring to aid in the assessment of climate change in the development of ocean and coastal management planning for the Tolowa Dee-ni′ Nation. This project will start the collection of ocean baseline water quality data that can help inform an assessment of smelt habitat, a State-designated marine protected area, and be used for long-term water quality monitoring to assess climate change. The project will also allow the Nation to collaborate with the Central and Northern California Ocean Observing System (CeNCOOS), the first such tribal collaboration with this group (i.e. pilot project). Congratulations to all who helped with the writing and submission of the grant proposals.